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Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, July 2022

Released: 2022-09-14

Manufacturing sales fell 0.9% to $71.6 billion in July, the third consecutive monthly decline, on lower sales in 12 of 21 industries, led by the primary metal (-9.9%), petroleum and coal product (-5.3%), and furniture and related products (-11.2%) industries. Meanwhile, sales of food (+2.5%), motor vehicle parts (+10.7%), and paper products (+8.1%) industries increased the most.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Manufacturing sales
Manufacturing sales

Sales in constant dollars increased 0.6% in July, the second consecutive monthly increase, while the Industrial Product Price Index declined 2.1% for the month.

Sales of primary metal industry decreased the most

The primary metal industry posted its largest decline on record, decreasing 9.9% to $5.6 billion in July, on lower prices and volumes sold (-5.1%). Sales declined in all the primary metal industries in July, led by the non-ferrous metal (except aluminum) (-28.4%) and alumina and aluminum production and processing (-19.3%) industries. Unplanned interruptions at some major primary metal manufacturers were partly responsible for the decline in July. In addition, primary non-ferrous metal prices fell 8.9%, while the prices for unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys declined 5.8% in July. Demands for many primary metals were also affected by concerns over a possible slowdown in the global economy along with the rising of interest rates across many advanced countries. Despite the month-over-month decline, primary metal sales were up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis in July.

Following a 6.0% decline in June, sales of petroleum and coal products decreased 5.3% to $10.3 billion in July, on lower prices, as sales in real terms rose 5.9%. Prices of refined petroleum energy products (including liquid biofuels) decreased 12.5% and marked the first decline in 2022. Despite the monthly decline in July, on a year-over-year basis, petroleum and coal product sales were 68.6% higher compared with the same month a year earlier.

Sales in the furniture and related product industry fell 11.2% to $1.3 billion in July, following record-high sales in June. Year over year, sales of furniture and related products increased 22.1%.

Other industries that contributed to the decline in July were the fabricated metal (-2.8%), chemical (-1.8%) and other transportation equipment product (-31.5%) industries.

Following two consecutive monthly declines, food manufacturing sales rose 2.5% to $11.8 billion in July, the highest level on record, mainly on higher sales in the grain and oilseed milling industry (+10.6%). The volume of canola oil produced rose 17.4% month over month in July, while prices of canola fell 16.6%. The record-high sales in July followed supply chain issues and rail car shortages that impacted many oil seed milling plants in the first half of 2022. Total sales of food in real terms rose 1.9% in July, while sales in current dollars increased 10.0% year over year.

Sales of motor vehicle parts increased 10.7% to $2.8 billion in July, the third highest level on record, following two consecutive monthly declines. Sales of motor vehicles increased 1.2% to $3.9 billion in July. Meanwhile, exports of motor vehicle and parts rose 9.4%.

Other industries that contributed to the monthly gain were the paper (+8.1%), plastic and rubber products (+2.7%), and aerospace product and parts (+4.5%) industries.

Sales in Quebec and Alberta decline the most

Manufacturing sales declined in 5 of 10 provinces in July, led by Quebec and Alberta. Meanwhile, New Brunswick posted the largest increases.

Manufacturing sales in Quebec declined 3.4% to $17.6 billion in July, following six consecutive monthly gains. Lower sales of primary metals (-18.0%) was the main contributor to the decline. Meanwhile, sales of paper in Quebec increased the most, rising 12.6% to $1.0 billion.

In Alberta, sales declined 2.6% to $9.1 billion in July, the largest month-over-month decline since April 2020, driven primarily by lower sales of petroleum and coal products (-7.6%). Despite the decline in July, total sales were up 26.3% in July compared with the same month a year earlier.

New Brunswick sales increased 9.6% to $2.5 billion in July, primarily on higher sales of non-durable goods (+11.7%). On a year-over-year basis, total sales in New Brunswick rose 48.7% in July.

Sales in Montréal and Edmonton decline the most while Windsor posts the largest increase

Manufacturing sales fell in 11 of the 15 selected census metropolitan areas in July, led by Montréal and Edmonton. Sales in Windsor increased the most.

In Montréal, sales fell 4.4% to $7.8 billion in July, following six consecutive monthly increases. The decline was mainly attributable to lower sales of primary metals and petroleum and coal products industries. The declines in July were partially offset by higher production of aerospace products and parts.

Following nine consecutive monthly gains, Edmonton sales decreased 5.2% to $4.8 billion in July, almost entirely on lower sales of petroleum and coal products (-7.7%). Despite the monthly decline, total sales were up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis in July.

Manufacturing sales in Windsor rose 35.9% to $1.5 billion in July, primarily on higher sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industries. The auto industry in Windsor has been hit by semiconductor chip shortages and experienced multiple shutdowns since the previous year. With the gain in July, total sales in Windsor stood 44.9% higher on a year-over-year basis.

Record-high inventory levels continue

Total inventory levels increased 1.2% to $118.1 billion in July, on higher inventories in 14 of 21 industries, led by the primary metal (+2.3%), machinery (+2.1%), and petroleum and coal (+2.4%) industries. The gains were partly offset by a 1.4% decline in inventories of chemical products. Higher prices of materials have been the main contributor to the increase in inventory levels since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In current dollars, total inventories rose 35.3% and raw materials rose 48.2% in July compared with the pre-pandemic level in February 2020, while they were up only 6.9% and 10.0% in real terms during the same period.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Inventory levels rise
Inventory levels rise

The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.61 in June to 1.65 in July. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.

Chart 3  Chart 3: The inventory-to-sales ratio increases
The inventory-to-sales ratio increases

Unfilled orders remain unchanged

The total value of unfilled orders was unchanged at $106.3 billion in July. Higher unfilled orders in the transportation equipment industry (+1.4%) were partially offset by declines of unfilled orders in the computer and electronic (-3.8%) and machinery (-2.0%) industries. Total unfilled orders were up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis in July.

Chart 4  Chart 4: Unfilled orders unchanged
Unfilled orders unchanged

The total value of new orders fell 5.3% to $71.6 billion in July, largely on declines of new orders of aerospace products and parts (-31.5%) and motor vehicles (-15.3%). The declines were partially offset by higher new orders in the motor vehicle part industry (+15.2%).

Capacity utilization rate decreases

The capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector decreased from 79.6% in June to 76.9% in July, on lower production.

Chart 5  Chart 5: The capacity utilization rate decreases
The capacity utilization rate decreases

The capacity utilization rates fell in 18 of 21 industries in July and was noticeable in the wood product (-7.5 percentage points), machinery (-7.2 percentage points), primary metal (-6.5 percentage points) and chemical product (-6.4 percentage points) industries. The declines were partially offset by a higher capacity utilization rate in the petroleum and coal product industry (+5.3 percentage points).






Sustainable development goals

On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.

The Monthly Survey of Manufacturing is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:

  Note to readers

Monthly data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise specified.

Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

Trend-cycle estimates are included in selected charts as a complement to the seasonally adjusted series. These data represent a smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted time series and provide information on longer-term movements, including changes in direction underlying the series. For information on trend-cycle data, see Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.

Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially for reference months near the end of the series or during periods of economic disruption.

Non-durable goods industries include food; beverage and tobacco products; textile mills; textile product mills; clothing; leather and allied products; paper; printing and related support activities; petroleum and coal products; chemicals; and plastics and rubber products.

Durable goods industries include wood products; non-metallic mineral products; primary metals; fabricated metal products; machinery, computer and electronic products; electrical equipment; appliances and components; transportation equipment; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous manufacturing.

Production-based industries

For the aerospace and shipbuilding industries, the value of production is used instead of the value of sales of goods manufactured. The value of production is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured. The value of production is used because of the extended period of time that it normally takes to manufacture products in these industries.

Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales, assuming that the orders are not cancelled.

New orders are those received, whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month.

Manufacturers reporting sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars

Some Canadian manufacturers report sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars. These data are then converted to Canadian dollars as part of the data production cycle.

For sales, based on the assumption that they occur throughout the month, the average monthly exchange rate for the reference month established by the Bank of Canada is used for the conversion. The monthly average exchange rate is available in table 33-10-0163-01. Inventories and unfilled orders are reported at the end of the reference period. For most respondents, the daily average exchange rate on the last working day of the month is used for the conversion of these variables.

However, some manufacturers choose to report their data as of a day other than the last working day of the month. In these instances, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent is used. Note that because of exchange rate fluctuations, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent can differ from both the exchange rate on the last working day of the month and the monthly average exchange rate. Daily average exchange rate data are available in table 33-10-0036-01.

Revision policy

Each month, the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing releases preliminary data for the reference month and revised data for the previous three months. Revisions are made to reflect new information provided by respondents and updates to administrative data.

Once a year, a revision project is undertaken to revise multiple years of data.

Real-time data tables

Real-time data tables 16-10-0118-01, 16-10-0119-01, 16-10-0014-01 and 16-10-0015-01 will be updated on September 21, 2022.

Next release

Data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing for August will be released on October 14, 2022.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).

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